portal is truly great

I recently played a game called "Portal" which comes bundled with *THREE*(?!?! (what were you thinking Valve?)) other awesome games in the so called "Orange Box" and I have to say I am absolutely stunned with the subtle and brilliant design of this game.

For starters it's a simple concept. It's a game where you run around in a laboratory setting with a gun that when fired at a wall creates a magical door to another place. That's pretty much the whole thing.

Or so I thought.

Until I actually played it right through to the end. At which point (spoiler alert) I discovered that it wasn't actually the end. It was instead the beginning of a dizzying descent into a quirky, subversive world lovingly dominated by a female HAL that has to be heard to be believed. I only wish I had the cleverness to invent a character like this.

I'm not entirely sure who invented portal or who was responsible for the fantastic blend of game play and storytelling but damn I love that dude/dudette.

Well done, and remember (Insert Subjects Name Here) , you are as fantastic a game designer as has ever been born in beautiful (Insert Subjects Home Town Here) .

Cake is a lie.